Field of the Art
The disclosure relates to the field of mobile device photography, and more particularly to the field of providing adequate lighting when shooting photos of a subject using a mobile device.
Discussion of the State of the Art
In recent years, people ranging from regular people to attention-seeking politicians crave a new level of self-expression via the “selfie”. This is a new kind of “digital identity development” has become a new era of social communication. For that reason, whether it is via Facebook™, Instagram™, Tumblr™ or Snapchat™, the online, photo-centric generation is here to stay.
“The selfie” provides a luxury of depicting oneself in a way that she desires. Technology gives users control to shape and manipulate who they are and perhaps mask flaws and imagined shortcomings in a way that was not previously possible off-line. It has become an opportunity for people to showcase themselves to the world with little or no repercussions. So, when the “likes” and affirming responses to carefully selected selfies come in large numbers in a given week, a satisfaction of that kind of global validation is immeasurable.
Photographers using mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets are limited by the function and lighting of their mobile device or need to use additional equipment to set up an ideal photography environment, or risk lackluster results. Often this involves setting up a photo booth environment where they can control variables such as color and lighting, to best illuminate a subject and get the best image. For casual photography this is prohibitive due to time, cost, and setup involved, some turn to rental photo booths provided by a third party when needed, again at the expense of additional cost for better photos.
What is needed is a means to replicate a professional-quality photo environment using nonspecialized equipment so a photographer may utilize their existing mobile device, and that is portable and affordable for shared or public use and casual photographers.